Fantasy Flight Games

FFG Live in December

Published 2 December 2025 | Star Wars: Unlimited

FFG Live in December

Announcing the FFG Livestreams for December 2025

It's FFG Live! Join us this month for more awesome livestreams for our current and upcoming games and expansions. Read on for more information on what livestreams you can look forward to this month!

December 3 at 1 PM CST

Star Wars™: Unlimited – A Lawless Time First Look

PREVIEW

A Lawless Time—the thrilling next set of Star Wars: Unlimited—is fast approaching! Join us for an early look at the upcoming set and what it has to offer, including a brand-new token type and the game’s first-ever multi-aspect cards!

Check out the stream here!

December 4 at 1 PM CST

Marvel Champions: The Card Game – Synthezoid Smackdown

GAMEPLAY

It’s hero versus hero (again)! Join members of the Marvel Champions design team as they face off each other’s heroes in this demonstration of the optional PvP mode in the upcoming Synthezoid Smackdown scenario pack. Who will win in this clash of ideals?

Check out the stream here!

December 10 at 1 PM CST

Star Wars™: Unlimited – Booster Pack Changes

DISCUSSION

As we approach the third year of Star Wars: Unlimited, we’re gearing up to make some adjustments to the game’s booster packs going forward. Join Senior Design lead Danny Schaefer as he breaks down all the changes to booster packs coming in A Lawless Time!

Check out the stream here!

December 11 at 10 AM CST

Twilight Imperium – Twilight’s Fall

GAMEPLAY

The release of Thunder’s Edge introduces a whole new way to play Twilight Imperium! In this dark alternate future, each player takes the role of one of the mad Mahact kings as they battle for ultimate galactic supremacy. Join designer Dane Beltrami, Hunter and Matt from Space Cats and Peace Turtles, and Community Manager Liv Sheppard in this all-day playthrough of Twilight’s Fall. Which Mahact king will reign supreme?

Check out the stream here!

December 17 at 1 PM CST

Star Wars: Unlimited – Secrets of Power Premier Gameplay

GAMEPLAY

Secrets of Power is out in the world, and with it a new metagame is gradually developing. With Planetary Qualifiers starting up soon, join the Star Wars: Unlimited team as they show off some of their favorite Premier decks with the new set!

Check out the stream here!

December 18 at 1 PM CST

Arkham Horror Files – Happy Horror Days

DISCUSSION

What’s this? What’s this? Eldritch horrors everywhere. What’s this? Smoke is streaming through the air. What’s this? Don’t believe your eyes; monsters’ scheming will take you to their lair. What’s this?

Usher in the holidays with a Happy Horror Days livestream! Join members of the FFG staff as we celebrate the Arkham Horror Files community, show off some of the fun things that were shared this season, talk about some of our favorite spooky traditions, and share a bit more about the upcoming Chapter Two releases for Arkham Horror: The Card Game.

Check out the stream here!

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FFG Live in November

Published 3 November 2025 | Star Wars: Unlimited

FFG Live in November

Announcing the FFG Livestreams for November 2025

It's FFG Live! Join us this month for more awesome livestreams for our current and upcoming games and expansions. Read on for more information on what livestreams you can look forward to this month!

November 4 at 10 AM CST

Twilight Imperium – Thunder’s Edge Launch Celebration

GAMEPLAY

Thunder’s Edge—the latest expansion for Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition—is here! Join members of the FFG team (along with some special guests) to celebrate the launch of this highly-anticipated expansion with a live game. Be sure to root for your favorite faction to claim the galactic throne!

Check out the stream here!

November 5 at 1 PM CST

Star Wars™: Unlimited – Meta Updates

DISCUSSION

The full release of Secrets of Power is right around the corner! Join members of the Star Wars: Unlimited design team as they discuss the current state of the competitive metagame as we head into the launch of the new set.

Check out the stream here!

November 7 at 8:30 AM CST

Star Wars: Unlimited – Secrets of Power Release Day

GAMEPLAY & DISCUSSION

It’s Launch Day for Secrets of Power! Join members of the FFG team as they celebrate the full release of Star Wars: Unlimited’s latest set. Tune in for live chats, draft play, some Trilogy games, and much more. You won’t want to miss it!

Check out the stream here!

November 12 at 1 PM CST

Star Wars: Unlimited – Secrets of Power Sealed Play

DISCUSSION & GAMEPLAY

Curious to see what a Competitive sealed event might look like? Join members of the Star Wars: Unlimited team as they walk through the experience of doing sealed play at an upcoming Planetary Qualifier, Sector Qualifier, or Regional Championship.

Check out the stream here!

November 13 at 1 PM CST

Marvel Champions: The Card Game – PvP Showcase

GAMEPLAY

It’s hero versus hero! Join members of the Marvel Champions design team as they face off in a demonstration of the game’s new, optional PvP mode, introduced in the recently-released Civil War expansion. Tune in and be sure to root for your favorite team to win!

Check out the stream here!

November 19 at 1 PM CST

Star Wars: Unlimited – Regional Championship and Sector Qualifier Prizing

DISCUSSION

With the release of Secrets of Power comes a new season of Sector Qualifiers and Regional Championships. Tune in as we show off what sort of amazing prizes everyone will be competing for at these upcoming, high-level events!

Check out the stream here!

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Available Now: October 24

Published 24 October 2025 | Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition

Available Now: October 24

Thunder's Edge is Now Available

Check out the latest product from Fantasy Flight Games, now available in the United States at your local retailer or online through our web store!

Thunder's Edge

The galaxy stands on the edge of a blade. A great struggle is coming, and only the greatest among them all will triumph.

Welcome to Thunder’s Edge, a new expansion for Twilight Imperium 4^th Edition! This colossal expansion brings the classic interstellar conflict to a breaking point, where everything revolves around the titular planet of Thunder’s Edge. New factions take to the galactic stage, new worlds emerge for you to explore (or exploit), and a suite of Galactic Events—modifiers that change the rules of the game—ensure that no two playthroughs will ever be the same.

Also included is the brand-new Twilight’s Fall mode, an alternate way to play Twilight Imperium. Take up the mantle of a mad Mahact king, build your own custom faction from the scraps of interstellar civilization, and battle to become the supreme ruler of the galaxy. This mode comes with its own spread of unique components, making it almost an entirely new game!

Not a standalone expansion. A copy of the Twilight Imperium 4^th Edition core set is required to play.

You can pick up your own copy of Thunder's Edge (TI11) at your local retailer today!*

*Available now in select markets. To find updates on this product's release in your territory, please follow this link.

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Conquering the Galaxy

Published 16 October 2025 | Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition

Conquering the Galaxy

Introducing the Twilight’s Fall Mode from Thunder’s Edge

Galactic civilization has collapsed.

In a dark, alternate future, the once-great powers have all fallen to ruin. Standing atop their corpses are the mad Mahact Kings, each of them warring against the others for ultimate supremacy. As their wild gene-sorcery tears the universe apart at its seams, only one will eventually emerge victorious, though they will ultimately rule over nothing but ashes.

Back when we first revealed Tunder’s Edge—the upcoming new expansion for Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition—we teased Twilight’s Fall, a massive, brand-new game mode that is included in that expansion. Today, it’s finally time to fully reveal Twilight’s Fall and the unique twist it provides to Twilight Imperium gameplay. Strap in, there’s a lot to cover here—so much so that it’s almost an entirely new game!

Mad Kings of Conquest

Deep down at its core, Twilight’s Fall still plays like the Twilight Imperium you know and love: the round structure is the same, the phases are (mostly) the same, and the kinds of actions you take are the same. However, there are a lot of differences that set this mode apart from the standard mode, and they all primarily lie within the “factions” you play.

Rather than taking command of a full-fledged faction, you instead assume the role of one of eight mad Mahact Kings. Each King has a unique flagship, mech, and commodity value, but aside from that, they have no inherent abilities of their own. Instead, during setup, each player drafts a starting suite of powers from an assortment of ability cards, unit upgrade cards, and genome cards. The abilities of many of these cards will seem awfully familiar to longtime fans of the game, often bearing the names and effects of the abilities belonging to the normal factions of Twilight Imperium—after all, the Mahact are gene-sorcerers, so why wouldn’t they take the best traits from the conquered for themselves?

You start the game with two ability cards, one unit upgrade card, and one genome card, all of which you chose during the initial draft. You can also gain more from “splicing” during the game itself, which can be initiated through Twilight’s Fall’s unique strategy cards (we’ll go over those in a bit). By mixing and matching these cards throughout the game, you build your own unique, custom faction from the ground up, ensuring that your domination of the galaxy is unlike any other.

Now, let’s take a look at what these three types of cards entail.

First up are the ability cards. In Twilight’s Fall, there is no researching of technology; after all, why would the Mahact bother with “research” when they can just take what they want straight from the source? Instead, we have the ability cards, which not only allow you to copy the effects of various faction-specific technologies from the standard game, but also let you copy factions’ innate abilities! For example, the Mitosis ability works very similarly to the Arborec’s ability of the same name, letting you gain a steady stream of infantry the longer the game goes on. Likewise, the Federation of Sol’s Versatile ability can also be appropriated, giving you access to more command tokens to fuel your conquest.

In a normal game, you would have to meet the prerequisites in order to research a faction-specific technology. In Twilight’s Fall, however, you can simply grab that same technology as an ability card during a splice, potentially letting you snag something like the Hacan’s Quantum Datahub Node or the Ral Nel Consortium’s Nanomachines fairly early in the game. While not every ability from every faction is present—these are being torn from the scraps left behind by those factions’ destruction, after all—there are still over 80 of these ability cards in total, leaving you with plenty of options to build your own unique galactic tyrant.

Next up are the unit upgrade cards. Like the ability cards, each of these upgrades thematically originates from the various factions of the standard game mode. However, instead of directly translating existing abilities for Mahact use, many of these unit upgrade cards are more “inspired” by their associated factions rather than direct copies. For example, the Ahk Syl Fier is an upgraded cruiser that draws from Creuss technology, while the University War Sun provides a glimpse into what a Jol-Nar superweapon would look like. Of course, for many of the factions that did have their own versions of specific units, those are also accessible, such as the Titans’ Hel-Titan or the Naalu’s Hybrid Crystal Fighter . With so many different upgrades to splice onto your units, you can craft a one-of-a-kind, unique custom fleet to conquer the galaxy—just keep in mind that your opponents can do the same!

The third type of card you can splice are genome cards, each of which can be exhausted for some sort of benefit once per round. For example, the Human Genome allows you to temporarily boost the combat prowess of a ground force, the Diplomatic Genome lets you ready a planet, and the Courier Genome can grab you (and another player) an extra action card. Each of these cards has roughly the same level of power as an agent from the standard game mode, but while you won’t find any commander-equivalent cards in Twilight’s Fall, you can have multiple genomes under your control, giving you access to a personal cadre of “leaders” to help you bend the galaxy to your will.

Now that you know what you can splice, it’s time to go over how you splice. However, in order to do that, we first need to talk strategy.

Tactical Tyranny

As we mentioned earlier, Twilight’s Fall uses its own set of strategy cards, titled (in numerical order): Lux, Noctis, Tyrannus, Civitas, Amicus, Calamitas, Magus, and Aeterna. Some of these are 1-to-1 recreations of strategy cards from the standard game mode; for example, the Lux strategy card is identical in abilities and effects to the Leadership strategy from the standard mode, while Amicus works exactly the same as Trade. Others provide slight tweaks to existing cards, such as Civitas granting slightly more flexibility than its standard mode counterpart, Construction.

Finally, there are the cards Noctis, Calamitas, and Magus, each of which allow you to initiate a splice for genomes, unit upgrades, and abilities respectively. Each splice involves a certain number of players, and when you initiate a splice, you draw and reveal a number of cards of the indicated type equal to the number of participating players plus one. You then pick one to keep and pass the rest on, and this continues until each participating player has chosen a card to splice (the rest go back to their decks). While the process is simple, the possibilities it opens up are anything but, and you’ll definitely want to splice as much as possible to build the mightiest tyrant the galaxy has ever seen.

Speaking of tyrants, Twilight Imperium veterans may have noticed that the Tyrannus strategy card—the Twilight’s Fall analogue to Politics—eschews any mention of the agenda deck, and instead references a “tyrant” and a “benediction token.” That’s because there is no agenda phase in Twilight’s Fall; instead, it is replaced by the “benediction phase,” which is directed exclusively by the current “tyrant.” If you have the benediction token, you are the tyrant, which means during the benediction phase, you get to draw three edict cards and choose one to resolve. These all have useful and impactful effects, such as Bless allowing you to gain several resources, Splice initiating a splice of any type, and Execute halving the infantry on up to three enemy planets at once. Having total control of which edict gets played is certainly appealing, but keep in mind that you must give up the speaker token if you want to be the tyrant, which means another player will get first dibs on choosing their strategy cards the next round—and they’re sure to remember the edicts you declared during your tyrannical reign!

Finally, we have the paradigms. These are powerful, single-use abilities that take the place of the hero cards from the standard game mode. Unlike hero cards, you don’t unlock paradigms from scoring three objectives; instead, you gain these from the primary ability of the Aeterna strategy card, which means you could potentially have multiple paradigms throughout the course of a single game. This could allow you perform some bombastic combos unique to Twilight’s Fall, such as utilizing Overgrowth to instantly produce a large number of units and then Changing the Ways to swap the system of those units closer to an enemy. Alternatively, you could try Awakening a planet with a technology specialty and then use Devour World to gain a dizzying amount of trade goods from that planet. These wild, climactic combinations perfectly encapsulate the untamed gene-sorcery of the mad Mahact Kings in their unending drive for conquest, and that’s only scratching the surface of what can happen during Twilight’s Fall!

A Dark Future

Any longtime fan of Twilight Imperium will want give Twilight’s Fall a try. By splicing myriad abilities from the galaxy’s fallen factions, this mode offers an experience unlike anything the game has had before. Wield the power of a tyrannical King in Twilight’s Fall when Thunder’s Edge arrives in October!

Written by Peter Schumacher

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Plotting the Course to Thunder’s Edge

Published 15 October 2025 | Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition

Plotting the Course to Thunder’s Edge

Exploring a new corner of the Twilight Imperium universe

“That’s correct, Ashalla Kar. You are going to need a ship and a crew if you are to take the steps necessary to prevent the coming disaster and you will find both on waystation five-nine-four. Ample funds to aid in this task have been transferred to your commercial account, Harrugh. Once you have secured both the ship and crew, the coordinates I have supplied will be your destination. It is imperative that you secure Icon.” − Thunder’s Edge: Echoes of Memory by Sarah Cawkwell

Over thirty years have passed since the Galactic Council was reconvened on the old Lazax throne world of Mecatol Rex. The Council’s tenuous peace hangs by a thread, with only the dutiful efforts of the Keleres keeping all-out conflict at bay. The Great Civilizations compete for political, economic, and military dominance, while the Mahact Kings, Vuil’raith Cabal, Nekro Virus, and other conspiracies threaten to plunge the galaxy into another dark age.

Yet someone in the shadows is pulling the strings to ensure calamity will not come to pass. Thunder’s Edge: Echoes of Memory by Sarah Cawkwell is a novel of epic space opera depicting the events leading up to the newest Twilight Imperium expansion. In it, former Hacan leader Harrugh Gefhara, his expedition, and the crew of the FSS Orlando must work together to avert disaster. The ebook and paperback edition of the prequel novel are both on sale from your preferred online retailer today!

The journey to Thunder’s Edge has had many stops along the way, and as part of celebrating the release of Echoes of Memory, we’ll also be sharing some of the stories you can read while you wait for your copy to arrive or if you want to learn more about the locations, allies, and enemies featured in the novel. They are by no means required reading to enjoy Echoes of Memory, but they do provide additional perspectives for the narrative.

A Foundering Salient

Begin your journey with the short story included in the Shards of the Throne expansion for the third edition of the game. Written by the creator of Twilight Imperium, Christian T. Petersen, the fiction introduces the Salient Sun Joint Task Force and a unit of the Sol 67^th Marine Division as they investigate a sector of space seemingly abandoned by the L1Z1X Mindnet. There, Captain Jael Ducan and Groc Yysho discover a threat capable of wiping out not just the ’1X, but all biological life.

Listen to the narrated version of the story below or read the story starting on page 88 of the Guide to the Imperium.

A Fortress Besieged

The story continues in “Fortress Ordinian,” a short story by Daniel Lovat Clark. In the years following the events of “Shards of the Throne,” the military coalition of Sol and Xxcha forces known as the Salient Sun has been forsaken by their homeworld governments, yet the fight goes on. Captain Jael Ducan and Groc Yysho return to liberate the planet of Ordinian, a fallen Naaz-Rokha colony, from the Nekro Virus. Meanwhile, in orbit, the Salient Sun’s Red Chivalry Fleet receives a desperate transmission from the FSS Orlando. Its crew claims to be carrying an “Apollo-priority relief payload” for the beleaguered ground forces—one that might just turn the tide in the battle against the genocidal machines.

Listed to the narrated version of the story below or read the story on page 5 of Codex IV: Liberation.

The Nascent Twilight

The saga concludes in Thunder’s Edge: Echoes of Memory by Sarah Cawkwell. Celebrated as the Golden General and scorned as the former Quieron of the Hacan, Harrugh Gefhara has been tormented since his traumatic meeting with an enigmatic stranger. Since then, he has been plagued by mysterious visions of catastrophe, and he must chart an expedition across the galaxy to locate a mysterious planet if he hopes to save the universe from destruction.

Joining him are new and familiar faces from the base game and first expansion of Twilight Imperium, including the adventurous Naaz-Rokha pair Dart and Tai and their newfound Titan companion, Junior. (You’ll recognize them from “Artifact” by Annie VanderMeer, the short story featured in Codex II: Affinity which tells the tale of Junior’s unearthing.) As he pursues his mission, Harrugh finds himself working alongside the crew of the FSS Orlando, a cruiser that’s voyaged far from the fleet of the Salient Sun Joint Task Force.

Read the prequel novel to learn the fate of Harrugh’s desperate expedition and the mystery behind FSS Orlando’s miraculous return, as well as the new weapon they’ve brought to bear against the Nekro Virus in the battle for Ordinian. Finally, play the game for yourself and return to Thunder’s Edge with the release of the newest expansion to Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition on October 24.

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Newcomers to the Galactic Stage

Published 25 September 2025 | Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition

Newcomers to the Galactic Stage

Previewing the New Factions Introduced in Thunder’s Edge

The galaxy is a tremendous place, with billions of stars and countless planets found in all corners of space. As the various factions continue to explore (or conquer) the interstellar frontier, it’s only natural that some newcomers would rise to stake their claim on the galactic stage.

This summer, we previewed Thunder’s Edge, the latest expansion for Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition. In addition to a plethora of new planets, mechanics, and upgrades to explore, we also revealed that there would be five brand-new factions introduced in this expansion. Today, it’s time to finally take a look at these new groups vying for the imperial throne.

Last Bastion

Starting us off, we have Last Bastion, a faction born from what was supposed to be a temporary joint military expedition between the Xxcha Kingdom and the Federation of Sol. We briefly previewed these valiant fighters during our first look at Thunder’s Edge, and now, let’s take a deeper look at what they bring to the game.

As we said during our initial preview, the Bastion’s gameplan revolves around getting the most value out of limited resources. This is reflected in their innate abilities, especially their ability to “galvanize” their units, which allows those units to roll an extra die for both combat rolls and unit abilities. This represents the Bastion’s tenacity and their tendency to dig in their heels and fight until the bitter end, and it also means their opponents can’t afford to discount any of the Bastion’s units, no matter how badly they’re outnumbered.

This trend continues into the rest of their kit. In addition to their inherent Phoenix Standard ability, Last Bastion can galvanize their units via the abilities of their mech, the A3 Valiance , or their agent, Dame Briar . Dame Briar can also allow another player to galvanize one of their units, a feature she shares with the Bastion’s promissory note, Raise the Standard . Their faction technology, Proxima Targeting VI , grants another use to galvanized units by allowing them to cancel hits from Bombardment attacks. That technology also allows the Bastion to resolve a free Bombardment against both sides during ground combat, but since they can cancel the hits dealt to their own units, their enemies are more likely to come out of it much worse for wear!

Since Last Bastion lends itself to a “few but fierce” playstyle heavily reliant on optimizing their resources, they can be a bit vulnerable to disruption from other players. Thankfully, their commander card, Nip and Tuck , provides some much-needed protection by preventing the Bastion’s action cards from being canceled. Not only that, but they also stop the Nekro Virus from copying the Bastion’s technology, preventing the Nekro from turning the Proxima Targeting VI against them. Their breakthrough card, The Icon , allows the Bastion to place their produced ships in remote systems, taking pressure off their space dock systems while also helping to spread their influence quicker. And finally, when it comes time for a blaze of glory, the Bastion can call upon their hero card ability, Entity 4X41A “Apollo” , to allow a destroyed, galvanized unit to attack every enemy in its system on the way out. With such tools at their disposal, one thing is abundantly clear: no one should ever underestimate Last Bastion!

The Deepwrought Scholarate

In the wake of dangerous threats emerging across the galaxy, some of the great powers sought to work together, hoping to foster better relations between all. One such faction was the Universities of Jol-Nar, who were seeking a way to break the Mahact’s domination of their most dangerous thralls, the Crimson Legionnaires—and, more importantly, prevent similar mind-control from affecting any Hylar victims. The Deepwrought Scholarate—a prominent school within the Jol-Nar’s universities—developed a device called the Waveform Arbitrator, which could (theoretically) break Mahact control of any beings within a million kilometers. The only problem was that University leadership wouldn’t allow them to test it, claiming it was “too dangerous.” So the Deepwrought hatched a plan, duped their superiors, and managed to somewhat-successfully deploy the Arbitrator in an event known as the “Ikatena Incident.” Facing treason at home, the Deepwrought declared independence from the Jol-Nar and set about establishing a new society, one that would prioritize the sharing of knowledge for the betterment of all.

Just like the Universities of Jol-Nar in the Twilight Imperium base game, the Deepwrought Scholarate are a technology-focused faction, with several abilities tied to researching more effectively and efficiently. However, unlike the Jol-Nar, the Deepwrought are all about spreading their research and technology to the rest of the galaxy, and this is represented by their emphasis on a new mechanic: coexistence.

As the Deepwrought, whenever you commit ground forces to a planet, you can choose for your units to “coexist” peacefully with anyone else who might be on that planet. While this means that you give up on controlling that planet during that coexistence, you do get access to a suite of ocean cards unique to the Deepwrought, such as the Deep Abyss or the Brine Pool . These ocean cards can be exhausted for resources or influence just like planet cards, and—through the use of the Deepwrought’s Hydrothermal Mining technology—they can even generate a steady stream of trade goods. Of course, in a galaxy as tumultuous as this one, coexistence is often a fleeting fantasy; thankfully, you can utilize the Deepwrought’s mech, the Eanautic , to get your units off a planet if your neighbors ever decide to turn hostile.

Coexisting with other factions allows the Deepwrought to establish friendly relations right off the bat, while their technology-related features allow them to reinforce those friendships. Their agent, Doctor Carrina , lets you assist another player in researching technology by removing a prerequisite (and also establishing coexistence on one of that player’s planets). In a similar vein, the Deepwrought commander Aello can grant a discount to other players when they spend resources to research technology, while you gain an extra trade good or commodity for your trouble. The Deepwrought breakthrough Visionaria Select can let the entire table research technology at once without the need for the Technology strategy card, while the Deepwrought promissory note Share Knowledge can let another faction “borrow” a technology temporarily. Of course, the Deepwrought don’t neglect their own technological needs, with Radical Advancement allowing you to freely replace your existing technologies with higher-tier ones each round. Finally, if you decide that a particular technology is simply too problematic to allow other players to have, you can call upon the Deepwrought hero card ability Wave Function Collapse and purge that technology from the entire galaxy.

The Crimson Rebellion

The Deepwrought Scholarate weren’t the only faction to be born from the Ikatena Incident. When the Waveform Arbitrator was deployed, a significant portion of the Crimson Legion unexpectedly found itself liberated from Mahact domination. Though they had been freed, the fundamental changes inflicted upon them remained, and now the former Legionnaires could sense just how wrong they felt. Denied the ability to return home by their untainted brethren, the former Legionnaires attempted to open a new wormhole into the Creuss dimension—and instead wound up somewhere…different. Though this new realm could sustain them, it was like a barren desert compared to the lush complexity of their original home, and they remained plagued with an overwhelming sense of wrongness. Now, the last hope of the despairing Crimson Rebellion lies in the marvelous power of Thunder’s Edge; maybe, just maybe, they could wield it to repair their broken people and finally feel the peace of a true home.

Since they were originally Creuss, you might think that the Crimson Rebellion has a similar emphasis on wormholes to their blue brethren. However, while the Creuss make judicious use of existing alpha and beta wormholes (and can even create their own), the Rebellion can’t use wormholes at all (other than the epsilon wormhole that connects their home system to the rest of the galaxy). Instead, they have access to “breaches,” a unique component exclusive to them.

Breaches come in two states: “active” and “inactive.” Breaches are most commonly placed in systems on their inactive side through the ability of the Rebellion’s unique destroyer, the Exile. However, their Resonance Generator breakthrough—which the Rebellion starts the game with—can be exhausted to place an active breach instead, and the Rebellion’s innate Incursion ability lets you flip inactive breaches to active ones whenever you activate a system that contains one.

Active breaches are central to the Rebellion’s whole game plan. Systems that contain active breaches are considered to be adjacent, granting the Rebellion a crucial alternative to wormholes to allow them to travel across the galaxy quickly. Their flagship, the Quietus, can turn off unit abilities for other players when they’re near an active breach, and their mech, the Revenant , can warp itself into ground combat in a system with an active breach, even if you don’t have any units there to begin with. While playing as the Rebellion, since you’ll want to explore space as quickly as possible to set up breaches, you may occasionally overextend and lose a ship or two in the process. That’s where the Subatomic Splicer comes in, allowing you to immediately replace any lost ship back in the Rebellion’s home system.

While the Rebellion has full control over where breaches are placed (and when they are flipped), the instability of these portals must be taken into consideration, since other players can remove an active breach at the end of the status phase. Fortunately, the Rebellion isn’t solely reliant on their breaches to leave their impact on the galaxy. Their agent, Ahk Ravin , allows you to swap the position of any 2 of your ships in the game, which can help bring lower-mobility units across several systems in just a single action. Any time that any player engages in combat, the Rebellion’s commander, Ahk Siever , grants the Rebellion a bit of extra income, assisting you with replenishing any units lost during exploration. The Rebellion’s promissory note, Sever , can allow another player to turn off a wormhole for a round, restricting the rest of the table’s navigation options while yours remain untouched. Finally, the Rebellion’s hero card ability Fragment Reality allows you to stockpile a secret fleet, which you can deploy during any future space combat without warning.

The Ral Nel Consortium

As we stated before, the Crimson Rebellion were freed by the Deepwrought Scholarate’s Waveform Arbitrator. However, the Deepwrought would never have been able to build such a device without the assistance of the Ral Nel Consortium. As a society built entirely upon a complex system of contracts and obligations, the Ral Nel are known for their fast ships, their highly advanced microprocessor technology, and their stubborn refusal to share either with the galaxy at large—except on their own terms, for cash in hand. To the Ral Nel, honoring debts is everything, and until recently, they believed they couldn’t trust outsiders to uphold the standard of business integrity set by the Ral Nel’s massive consortium of mega-corporations. But then they met the Deepwrought, who surprised them by being motivated not by the typical short-sighted greed the Ral Nel had come to expect from outsiders, but rather by a keen awareness of the mutual debts that would reasonably exist between great powers if everyone was sane (that is to say, behaving like proper Ral Nel). Now tentatively making deals with other civilizations as well, the Ral Nel have turned their sights to Thunder’s Edge, believing that, if they can use their unrivaled microprocessors to take control of the mysterious world’s strange power, they can use that power to save the galaxy from the forces that threaten to destroy it. And that salvation would create the biggest debt of all.

One of the most defining features of the Ral Nel Consortium’s playstyle is their mobility. Right off the bat, one of their inherent abilities, Survival Instinct, lets you move up to two of your ships in response to another player activating one of your systems. The Ral Nel commander, Watchful Ojz , can do the opposite, allowing you to move two of your ships out of an active system during a retreat. Meanwhile, their mech Alarum can do the same thing with ground forces, providing a rare opportunity to move your infantry and mechs without the need of spaceships to transport them. The Ral Nel’s unique destroyer, the Linkship, has a blistering 3 movement value, which gets even higher when it is upgraded to the Linkship II . These destroyers also highlight the Ral Nel’s second innate ability, Miniaturization, which allows you to feely transport your structures throughout space. You can even lend a weaker version of this ability to another player through the use of the Ral Nel promissory note, the Nano-Link Permit . In addition to the flexibility that comes from being able to move their structures around, a Ral Nel Linkship can trigger the Space Cannon ability of a PDS it’s carrying, giving it a surprising extra punch when engaging enemies in space!

As you may have noticed by this point, the other defining feature of the Ral Nel is their flexibility and versatility. Their Nanomachines give you access to three different, useful actions, which you will undoubtedly want to take advantage of every round. Their agent, Kan Kip Rel , can give you an extra action card each round while also giving one to another player. Once that player uses that action card, it is placed on the Ral Nel’s breakthrough Data Skimmer instead of being discarded, giving you even more options to choose from when you decide to pass for the round. And speaking of passing, if you ever decide that, actually, you didn’t want to pass, the Ral Nel hero card ability Signal Intrusion can let you “unpass” at the end of the action phase, suddenly gaining two more command tokens and letting you continue to act while the other players can only it and watch!

The Firmament / The Obsidian

Finally, we have the Firmament. A completely normal faction with absolutely nothing shady going on, the founders of the Firmament are here merely to ask a simple question: “Why have rulers at all?” After all, the Lazax Imperium wasn’t really all it was cracked up to be, and the Twilight Wars that ended their reign resulted in trillions dead and a three-thousand-year-long dark age. Is the best plan really to just do Imperium again, but with someone else in charge?

Thus, the Firmament works to promote a pangalactic society, without the divisions of the Great Civilizations or the rule of a singular Emperor. They’ve been largely ignored until now, which has forced them to conduct some unsanctioned projects on the side. After all, it’s better to show the galaxy how great the Firmament’s vision is rather than just tell them, right? Unfortunately, the response to their efforts has mostly been mass arrests and “peacekeepers” in riot gear, which has been less than ideal.

Perhaps Sharsiss—an ambitious young Druaa and a member of the Firmament’s leadership—can provide some guidance for the organization in these troubling times. Sure, he’s been a little…different ever since he stumbled upon a mysterious black blade called the Obsidian, but he’s always had the Firmament’s best interests in mind. Although it is a little concerning how militaristic his actions have been as of late, and no one is certain why he has taken a new, almost obsessive interest in Thunder’s Edge, even reallocating assets from the Firmament’s planned populist uprising on Mecatol Rex in order to take the newly discovered world. He also never goes anywhere without that sword. Maybe…maybe something dark and unsettling is going on. Is it possible the Firmament’s vision has been corrupted by something sinister?

…Nah, it’s probably fine.

The last of the new factions in Thunder’s Edge is actually two factions in one! You begin the game as the Firmament, a fairly standard faction with no real standout abilities—or so it seems. At first glance, the Firmament’s most notable feature is the ability to score the secret objectives scored by other players; except that, rather than gaining victory points for doing so, the Firmament instead let you place one of their faction-unique “plot” cards into play facedown. The player whose secret objective you scored must place one of their control tokens on that plot. To what end, you ask? Why, to establish puppets for the Obsidian, of course!

Once you have at least 1 facedown plot card in your play area, you can choose to purge the Firmament’s faction sheet, leaders, planet cards, and promissory note, replacing them all with those of the Obsidian. This hollowed-out, soulless reflection of the Firmament has its own version of each component, and what it lacks in inherent abilities, it makes up for with its plot cards, which flip faceup upon the Obsidian entering play. The player whose control token rests on a plot card becomes the “puppeted” player for that card, allowing you to reap significant gains from them. For example, the Enervate plot allows you to perform the secondary abilities of the puppeted player’s strategy cards without needing to spend command tokens, Seethe allows the you to slowly and methodically destroy the ground forces of the puppeted player, and Extract lets you copy the puppeted player’s technology.

Knowing which players to puppet for which plots is key to the Firmament/Obsidian’s strategy, but plots aren’t the only source of abilities they have. Both factions have their own version of each component, and they function differently depending on if they are the Firmament or the Obsidian. For example, the Firmament’s agent is Myru Vos , a handy leader that can shield ships from Space Cannon attacks and allow unburdened ships to move through other player’s blockades. After changing to the Obsidian, Vos becomes Vos Hollow , and his ability changes to something a bit more destructive. Similarly, Captain Aroz of the Firmament can make it easier for you to score secret objectives, which works wonders when trying to set up plots. Once he becomes Aroz Hollow , he instead boosts the combat rolls of your units in The Fracture, the special area of “extra space” that we talked about in our first look at Thunder’s Edge. This plays well off the Firmament’s Planesplitter technology, which lets you force The Fracture into play, as well as its Obsidian counterpart , which lets you move the location of ingress tokens (and therefore control the entry points into The Fracture).

The Firmament’s Neural Parasite lets you slowly build up infantry over time, while the Obsidian’s version lets you slowly destroy the infantry of your opponents. The Firmament’s Viper EX-23 mech allows you to borrow the Deepwrought’s ability to coexist on a planet, while the Obsidian’s Viper Hollow flips the control of those planets on their heads. The Firmament’s breakthrough, The Sowing , allows you to invest trade goods for the future, gaining back double the amount after it gets flipped to The Reaping for the Obsidian. Each faction even has its own promissory note, with the Firmament’s Black Ops being a single-use, guaranteed plot card placement (in exchange for a solid boost to the other player’s command token and trade good economy) while the Obsidian’s Malevolency functions like a recurring time bomb that all players will want to pass around, lest it drain their command tokens and neuter their ability to respond to future threats. All of this culminates in the hero cards, which—like everything else—each faction has their own version of. The Firmament’s hero ability, The Blade Beckons , lets you set up the exact plot for the exact player that you want, while the Obsidian’s hero ability, The Blade Revealed , lets you instantly ready all of your planets. You get access to the Obsidian’s hero card even if you use the Firmament’s hero before the change, but remember: changing to the Obsidian is a one-way trip, so make sure you’ve gotten all the use out of the Firmament that you can before you go hollow!

A Crowded Galaxy

With the addition of these five new playable factions in Thunder’s Edge, the grand total of factions in Twilight Imperium has risen to 30. Even in just a three-player game, that amounts to over 24,000 possible combinations of factions in a game, and the number only grows as the galaxy expands to higher player counts. What sort of new stories will be told with all these new groups vying for the galactic throne? Look forward to more previews of Thunder’s Edge as we speed toward its release this October!

Written by Peter Schumacher

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Thunder's Edge

Published 31 July 2025 | Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition

Thunder's Edge

Announcing a New Expansion for Twilight Imperium 4th Edition

The galaxy stands on the edge of a blade. Disasters approach from all directions, and the Council lacks the united will to respond to any of the threats. In the midst of this turmoil, new leaders arise, bringing visions of a brighter future. As all heads turn to the mysterious world of Thunder’s Edge, these would-be saviors—or conquerors will all be tested. The question remains: will the future lead to calamity, or prosperity?

A great struggle is coming, and only the greatest among them all will triumph.

Fantasy Flight Games is thrilled to announce Thunder’s Edge, a new expansion for Twilight Imperium 4^th Edition!

This colossal expansion brings the classic interstellar conflict to a breaking point, where everything revolves around the titular planet of Thunder’s Edge. New factions take to the galactic stage, new worlds emerge for you to explore (or exploit), and multiple new mechanics provide you with more tools in your struggle for the throne. Also included are rules and components for a brand-new way to play the game, Twilight’s Fall, which is almost an entirely new game in and of itself!

We’ve got a lot to cover today, so without further ado, let’s dive right into Thunder’s Edge!

A New Frontier

And what better way to begin a preview of Thunder’s Edge than with a look at the titular planet itself?

Beginning the game off the board, the legend of Thunder’s Edge starts with an expedition. At the end of your turn, you can choose to “commit to the expedition” and lay claim to an unclaimed piece of the planet. Each “slice” of Thunder’s Edge has a different cost associated with it, and each slice can only be claimed once. The first time you claim one of the expedition slices, you gain your faction’s “breakthrough,” which is a new faction-specific component that we’ll go over in a moment. After all six slices of Thunder’s Edge are claimed, the expedition is complete, and the player who claimed the final slice flips the tile to its planet side and places it in a system of their choice (so long as that system doesn’t have a planet, supernova, or printed wormhole). Then, the player who claimed the most slices takes control of it, placing infantry on the planet equal to the number of slices they’d claimed.

As a legendary planet, controlling Thunder’s Edge provides some hefty boons. In addition to the planet itself providing an impressive 5 resources, the Jupiter Brain ability on its legendary planet card grants you access to your breakthrough (if you don’t already have it) and lets you perform an extra action at the end of your turn once per round. Being able to perform two actions in one turn breaks open the door to all sorts of possibilities, which means control of this new frontier world could quite literally decide the fate of the game!

Speaking of breaking open possibilities, let’s talk about breakthroughs! In Thunder’s Edge, every faction in the game (including the base game and the Prophecy of Kings expansion) gains one of these special new cards that must be unlocked during gameplay. Every breakthrough has two effects: a special ability, and a “synergy” between two technology colors.

The abilities on these breakthroughs are, as you’d expect, quite powerful. For example, the Arborec’s Psychospore breakthrough lets them use an action to remove a command token from a system and gain an infantry there, opening that system up for an additional tactical action that round. In the Embers of Muaat’s case, their Stellar Genesis breakthrough lets them create an entirely new planet!

In addition to their abilities, each breakthrough grants synergy between two technology colors. This is a fairly simple yet powerful effect: whenever you are researching technology or scoring technology-related objectives, you can treat the technology colors on your breakthrough as either of the two for the purpose of fulfilling requirements (but not both). This means that the Arborec’s breakthrough allows them to treat their red technology/technology specialties as green ones or vice versa, while the Embers of Muaat’s breakthrough lets them treat red as yellow or yellow as red. You can choose which color to use between the two at any given time, but you can’t use both at once, so be sure to plan accordingly!

Naturally, gaining your faction’s breakthrough is a serious boon, but there’s something else that can be triggered alongside them: The Fracture. This enigmatic area of space isn’t connected to the rest of the galaxy in the traditional sense, and it is chock full of rewards and resources for you and your opponents to explore.

Whenever a player gains their breakthrough, they roll a die. If the result is a 1 or a 10, The Fracture enters play. The Fracture has its own set of system tiles, and they can only be accessed through “ingress tokens,” which are placed at certain spots throughout the galaxy when The Fracture enters play. Each planet within The Fracture gives you a relic when you gain control of it, and the new legendary planet Styx also gives you a victory point for as long as you have it, thanks to its ability, A Song Like Marrow . However, you won’t be able to just waltz in and take these planets for yourself—after all, this alternate space is already occupied!

Thunder’s Edge introduces a set of “neutral units” to the galactic stage, represented by their own set of gray unit pieces. These units are non-player forces that engage you in combat if you enter their turf, and The Fracture enters play with a handful of neutral units guarding each planet. Other effects can occasionally bring neutral units into play as well, making the galaxy feel more alive than ever.

An Eventful Galaxy

Up until this point, we’ve been covering the new features of Thunder’s Edge that can come up during a game of Twilight Imperium. However, this expansion also introduces a new mechanic that can affect the game from the very beginning: galactic events!

These optional special event cards can be chosen during setup, and each of them provides new modifiers and rules that can significantly impact the way the game is played. For example, the Stellar Atomics event grants each player a one-time delete button that can wipe a planet clean of enemy forces, but also bars them from voting in the agenda phase if they do so. The Age of Commerce event boosts the galactic economy to soaring heights, while the Age of Fighters event changes what space combat looks like for the entire game. The Civilized Society makes scoring public objectives a much more “civil” affair, while the Dangerous Wilds event fills hazardous planets with deadly fauna that must be dealt with if you want to establish a foothold.

There are 20 of these galactic event cards in total, and you can mix and match them to create your own unique Twilight Imperium experience. With so many options at your disposal, no two games will ever be the same!

Newcomers to the Galactic Stage

Of course, this wouldn’t be an expansion to Twilight Imperium without some new playable factions! There are five new factions included in Thunder’s Edge, each with their own spread of unique abilities, faction-specific mechs and technologies, leaders, and more. Let’s take a look at one of these new factions now:

Introducing Last Bastion! Born from what was supposed to be a temporary joint military expedition between the Xxcha Kingdom and the Federation of Sol, the Salient Sun Joint Task Force found themselves in an unwinnable situation when the Nekro Virus interrupted their mission. Despite years of fighting a hopeless battle, the Xxcha and Human soldiers forged an unbreakable bond, and their sheer determination caused others to rally to their cause. Eventually, after clawing their way to victory against impossible odds, the Salient Sun declared themselves an independent state—a bulwark against the destructive forces menacing planets on the rim; a Last Bastion.

As a symbol of hope in a harsh frontier, Last Bastion is used to getting the most out of what little resources they have available. Their Liberate ability can potentially allow you to immediately ready a planet if you gain control of it with enough infantry, giving you immediate access to that planet’s resources and influence. This combines well with their space docks, the 4X41C “Helios” VI, which allow the Bastion to increase the effective resource value of their planets. This means the faction can get a surprising amount of mileage out of just a few systems. That said, once the Bastion is able to spread their influence, they can utilize their flagship, the Egeiro, to great effect, gaining a boost in combat capability for every non-home system they’ve placed a flag in!

The Bastion’s resourcefulness is certainly one of their greatest strengths, but where they truly shine is in their ability to “galvanize” their forces. A galvanized unit rolls an additional die for all combat rolls and unit abilities, essentially doubling their effectiveness across the board. This represents Last Bastion’s indomitable spirit and, once again, their ability to get the most out of what little they have. You can galvanize a unit through the use of the Bastion’s Phoenix Standard ability or through effects like those on their mech, the A3 Valiance , and you’ll want to do so as much as possible to show the galaxy exactly why the Bastion never gave up in the face of impossible odds!

We’ll introduce the other four new factions at a later date, so look forward to seeing who else is taking to the galactic stage!

In addition to introducing new factions to the game, Thunder’s Edge also provides a pile of resources for all the previously-released factions, including a spread of brand-new faction reference cards! These cards provide a detailed snapshot of each faction’s abilities, starting units/technology, and other details on what makes them stand out among the rest, as well as provide a general complexity gauge to help you narrow down the choices when choosing who to play. Alternatively, since these reference cards all have the same back, you can use them as a handy and easy way to randomize or even draft factions during setup, giving you even more options to help you mix up your game!

A Collected Codex

By now, we’ve covered quite a bit of what can be found within the Thunder’s Edge expansion, but we’re still not done! Alongside the mountain of new content unique to the expansion itself, Thunder’s Edge also includes a compilation of the standard game components from each Twilight Codex, which were all previously only available through print-and-play. This includes the Codex action cards, relics, exploration cards, the entire Council Keleres faction, and more.

Now, every fan of Twilight Imperium can experience this expanded content for the game, even if you couldn’t get it printed before. This means that nearly all the content for Twilight Imperium 4^th Edition is now officially collected and available between its three products: the base game, Prophecy of Kings, and now Thunder’s Edge.

But that’s not all! In addition to providing all of the Codex content, Thunder’s Edge also includes a little “faction booster” for the spinoff in the Twilight Imperium franchise, Twilight Inscription! This roll-and-write game already had the first 24 Twilight Imperium factions as playable options, and Thunder’s Edge adds the remaining 6 to round out the roster. That said, if you know someone who only owns Twilight Inscription and still wants to have all the factions, tell them not to worry; the new faction cards will also be uploaded as free print-and-play content to our website around the release of Thunder’s Edge. The epic roll-and-write experience just got a little bigger!

Twilight’s Fall

Finally, we have a brand-new way to play Twilight Imperium, Twilight’s Fall!

Set in a dark alternate future, the Twilight’s Fall mode has each player take up the mantle of a mad Mahact king, building their own custom faction from the scraps of interstellar civilization. With its own spread of unique faction sheets, strategy cards, and components, Twilight’s Fall is practically an entire new game in and of itself. We’ll share more details about this colossal addition to the game in its own dedicated article at a later date, so stay tuned!

Echoes of Memory

And if that’s not enough Twilight Imperium for you, our partners at Aconyte Books have also just announced their next Twilight Imperium novel, Thunder’s Edge: Echoes of Memory! Written by Sarah Cawkwell, this novel serves as a prequel to the events of the Thunder’s Edge expansion and follows the familiar face of the Hacan war hero Harrugh Gerfara. Here’s a blurb from Aconyte to give you a little taste of what’s to come:

The Golden General, Harrugh Gerfara, desperately wants to understand the vast differences between the many species peppering the galaxy. When a traumatic meeting leads to a dire warning about the destruction of the universe, the reluctant hero dons his armor and sets out to explore a mysterious planet called Thunder’s Edge. Guided by incomprehensible visions, his expedition quickly becomes one of pure survival as he and his crew are ambushed by the insidious Nekro Virus. Crash landing into uncharted territory, Harrugh soon realizes Thunder’s Edge’s momentous secrets demand all his cunning to unravel, unleashing a dark fate that will offer salvation or vaporize the world as he knows it.

A Gathering Storm

With countless new components, five new factions, and an entire new game mode in Twilight’s Fall, Thunder’s Edge is a truly colossal expansion packed to the brim with new content. Fans of Twilight Imperium won’t want to miss out on this juggernaut and the tremendous additions it brings to the game. Look forward to adding Thunder’s Edge to your collection when it arrives on the galactic stage this October!

You can pre-order your own copy of Thunder’s Edge (TI11) at your local retailer or online through our webstore today!

Written by Peter Schumacher

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FFG Live in June

Published 3 June 2025 | Star Wars: Unlimited

FFG Live in June

Announcing the FFG Livestreams for June 2025

It's FFG Live! Join us this month for more awesome livestreams for our current and upcoming games and expansions. Read on for more information on what livestreams you can look forward to this month!

June 11 at 1 PM CDT

Star Wars™: Unlimited – Legends of the Force Twin Suns

GAMEPLAY

As we all eagerly await the upcoming release of Legends of the Force, let’s have some fun with some multiplayer mayhem! Join members of the Star Wars: Unlimited team as they play a Twin Suns game with some cards from the upcoming set.

Check out the stream here!

June 12 at 1 PM CDT

Twilight Imperium – Codex Q&A

DISCUSSION

A new Codex entry for Twilight Imperium is fast approaching! Join designer Dane Beltrami along with Community Manager Olivia Sheppard as they discuss the contents of the new Codex and answer some questions from the community.

Check out the stream here!

June 17 at 1 PM CDT

Marvel Champions: The Card Game – Falcon and Winter Soldier Gameplay

GAMEPLAY

The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. wave for Marvel Champions: The Card Game is nearing its conclusion with the impending release of the Falcon and Winter Soldier Hero Packs. Join members of the Marvel Champions team as they sit down for a scenario with the new heroes and show off what they have in store!

Check out the stream here!

June 18 at 1 PM CDT

Star Wars: Unlimited – Formats and Prizes

DISCUSSION

With the Galactic Championship just over a month away, there’s a lot to be excited about for Star Wars: Unlimited fans. Join members of the team for a discussion about Galactic Championship prizes and the game’s current formats. And who knows? Maybe—just maybe—they’ll have something new to unveil as well.

Check out the stream here!

June 25 at 1 PM CDT

Star Wars: Unlimited – Legends of the Force Draft Play

GAMEPLAY

It’s that time once again! With a new set looming on the horizon, we simply must have our traditional Designer Draft to go along with it. Join members of the Star Wars: Unlimited design team as they draft some Jump to Lightspeed decks. Be sure to root for your favorite to win!

Check out the stream here!

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FFG at Gen Con 2022

Published 14 July 2022 | Arkham Horror: The Card Game

FFG at Gen Con 2022

Check Out the FFG Events at Gen Con 2022

Fantasy Flight Games is heading to Gen Con!

After two long years, our studio will finally be able to see all of you again at Gen Con 2022 in Indianapolis, Indiana . In case you missed previous announcements, here is a list of the things FFG will be doing at the event. We hope to see you there!

Twilight Imperium Tournament

As part of the Twilight Imperium 25th Anniversary celebration, we will be hosting a Twilight Imperium tournament on the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of Gen Con. Think you’ve got what it takes for galactic dominance? Take on other fans of FFG’s first board game and win some awesome prizes, such as special promo plastic ships, dice, and playmats!

If you haven’t registered for the tournament already, you can do so here!

Twilight Inscription Learn-to-Play

Back in May, we announced Twilight Inscription, an epic roll-and-write that takes place in the Twilight Imperium universe. At Gen Con, fans of Twilight Imperium and fans of roll-and-writes will all be able to take a sneak peek at this upcoming game with the Twilight Inscription Learn-to-Play events! Join game designer James Kniffen and learn to play this awesome game; trust us, it’s bigger and even better than you imagine.

If you want to guarantee a spot for the Twilight Inscription Learn-to-Play, you can sign up for it here! All four days of Gen Con will have multiple opportunities to participate, so sign up for whatever time slot works best for you!

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game – The Hunt for the Dreadnaught

It’s tradition to have a standalone The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game scenario at Gen Con, and this year we see the return of The Hunt for the Dreadnaught. This high seas adventure sees multiple teams of heroes working together to overcome the threat of vicious Corsairs. Join designer Jeremy Zwirn and experience this epic multiplayer scenario for yourself. We’ll run this scenario at least once each day of the event, so sign up for a slot if you haven’t already done so!

Arkham Horror: The Card Game – Machinations Through Time

It’s also tradition to have a massive, multiplayer Arkham Horror: The Card Game scenario at Gen Con, and this year is no exception! Join game designer MJ Newman for a round of Machinations Through Time, a time-traveling adventure where you and your fellow investigators try to stop a dark force from altering history. This scenario will be run multiple times throughout all four days of the event, so be sure to stop by and see the horrors unfold!

Marvel Champions: The Card Game – Mutant Genesis Preview

The X-Men are coming to Marvel Champions: The Card Game! Fans of the game can enjoy a sneak peek at the upcoming campaign expansion, Mutant Genesis, which will be held multiple times a day on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of Gen Con. Join game designer Caleb Grace as you take on Sabretooth and see if you can beat the first scenario of the Mutant Genesis campaign. You can bring your own deck or try out one of the new heroes, Shadowcat and Colossus!

Game Demos

Outside of the event space, FFG will also be holding several free demos of games and expansions that released within the last year. Come try out Cosmic Encounter: Comic Odyssey, Descent: Legends of the Dark, Star Wars: Outer Rim - Unfinished Business, and more!

In-Flight Shorts

Even if you can’t make it to Gen Con this year, be sure to tune in to our YouTube channel for several In-Flight Shorts throughout the event. These short-and-sweet, daily livestreams will show off bits and pieces of upcoming products, chats with developers, and special announcements!

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The Council Awaits

Published 28 April 2022 | Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition

The Council Awaits

Introducing the 25^th Faction for Twilight Imperium

A new faction has arrived in Twilight Imperium! First revealed as part of the Twilight Codex Vol. III, the Council Keleres joins Twilight Imperium’s roster as its 25^th faction. How fitting for the year of the game’s 25^th anniversary!

Read on to learn a bit about the Council and its motivations for joining the fray.

Across the galaxy, planetary governors compete for trade opportunities, the Great Civilizations joust for superiority on the battlefront, and still other, more insidious factions play at shaping galactic history for their own ends. In a galaxy fraught with so many agendas, it’s no surprise that the Galactic Council took it upon itself to assemble a force of its own to manage its affairs. The Keleres of the Council are that force, but they are also something more. They are a ragtag army of bureaucrats, soldiers, and spies, often at odds with themselves and not always appreciated by the galaxy they serve.

Though the Keleres are born of the Galactic Council, they are often left to their own devices, traveling the galaxy brokering peace, intervening in conflicts, and tackling threats to galactic civilization as a whole. They even act without the consent of the Tribunii or the Galactic Council when timeliness is a factor, only to be censured by the Galactic Council after the fact.

The member states of the Council send recruits, who are selected according to the traditions of each individual planet or system, to serve in the Keleres. The Great Powers have learned, since the Keleres’s founding, that the Keleres are a useful tool for furthering their own designs. Rather than sending their best operatives away to the Keleres, many send political opponents, incompetents, dangerous prisoners, and other individuals who are difficult to do away with and undesirable to have around. On the other hand, a few Great Powers find it prudent to send highly competent personnel, sometimes out of respect for the Galactic Council but more often than not to clandestinely advance their own goals. The Keleres, then, are a strange and difficult order to manage.

The Galactic Council elects three of its own to be the Tribunii of the Keleres. Members of the Council treat the responsibility with mixed sentiment: as both an honor and a burden. The Tribunii have the power to command the Keleres and to implement the designs of the Galactic Council in a concrete way. However, the mixed quality of the Keleres means having to accept no small number of failures, which, in turn, can hurt the Tribunii when members of the Galactic Council seek accountability. Canny Tribunii, such as Tribunii Kuuasi Aun Jalatai, learn when best to use the Keleres, when to set them aside, and who among the ranks are right for the job.

The fraught political environment means that most Councilors don’t serve as Tribunii long. In the five years since the Keleres’ founding, there have been seven Tribunii, including the current holders of the office. Two were forced to resign in disgrace, one was killed on a mission, and one was assassinated in an intra-agency power struggle. For those Tribunii who meet and overcome the challenge of utilizing the force of the Keleres, however, the fruits are significant indeed. It requires much talent for this to happen, but when it does, it can tip the balance of the Galactic Council itself.

The three Tribunii who currently serve are in delicate balance, and therefore the future of the Keleres and the Imperium itself may be at a tipping point. Kuuasi is oldest and wisest among them. Harka Leeds is as ambitious and cunning as she is ruthless in her schemes. Odlynn Myrr, though new to the role, brings a fresh perspective and hope for unity and stability in the Imperium.

Despite the delicate balance of power between the Tribunii, the Keleres represent the Galactic Council and, as such, must embody the unity of the galaxy, not just the whims of its leaders. The Great Civilizations, however, frequently compete with one another in trade, war, and politics. Though some conflict can cement the bonds of a society, too much can just as easily rip it apart. Thus, the diverse skills of the Keleres are brought to bear on missions of peace and negotiation.

At times, the Keleres act as a neutral party or temporary ally among factions at war. Negotiation, knowledge of history, and familiarity with alien species pave the way to peace and prosperity for the galaxy. They broker peace on the one hand, but join battles on the other, especially when violence seems to be the only means to stability.

If you haven’t read the latest Codex volume yet, you can find it here. Be sure to check it out to learn more about the Council Keleres and other recent new additions to Twilight Imperium.

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25 Years of Twilight

Published 16 February 2022 | Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition

25 Years of Twilight

Celebrating the 25^th Anniversary of Twilight Imperium

This year marks the 25^th anniversary of Twilight Imperium! We’re celebrating this momentous occasion all year. If you haven’t checked out the anniversary’s official web page yet, be sure to do so! You can find it here.

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In-Flight 2021

Published 15 September 2021 | Descent: Legends of the Dark

In-Flight 2021

Recapping the 2021 FFG In-Flight Report

It’s finally time for Gen Con 2021! And while we won’t be at the event in person this year, we did still hold our annual Fantasy Flight Games In-Flight Report this week. Be sure to give it a watch over at our YouTube channel if you haven’t already done so!

If you don’t have the time to watch the report or you would like a recap of the highlights, you can find a quick summary of everything we announced below.

Descent

The first game in the newly-rebranded Terrinoth Legends universe, Descent: Legends of the Dark is the largest single project ever produced by Fantasy Flight Games. And it’s just getting started!

In addition to a brief shout-out to Level Up Dice and their awesome upcoming dice for the game, we also teased a sculpt from an upcoming expansion, Ghosts of Greyhaven. This expansion is a side-story that can be incorporated into your Act I campaign or played as a standalone adventure. Act II is still a ways off, but development is going smoothly, and in the meantime fans of Descent can look forward to Ghosts of Greyhaven to tide them over!

KeyForge

As we mentioned in an article last week, KeyForge is going on hiatus with a planned relaunch alongside a digital version of the game in the future. In the In-Flight Report, we gave a sneak-peek at the game’s sixth set, Winds of Exchange.

In addition to a whole new batch of cards and mechanics, Winds of Exchange also introduces the game’s eleventh house, the Compacts of Ekwidon. This is a mercantile house founded by the asymmetrical Getrookya, and it’s all about themes of trade and exchange. Joining the Ekwidon are six returning houses, including Brobnar, Sanctum, Saurians, Star Alliance, Unfathomable, and the long-awaited return of Mars!

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Can you believe it’s already been five years since Arkham Horror: The Card Game first launched? This game has been going strong all this time and it’s not slowing down anytime soon. We had two big announcements for Arkham LCG in the In-Flight Report, with the first being Machinations Through Time.

This new standalone scenario gives us our first look at the city of Arkham in different time periods. Investigators must jump between the 1890s, the 1920s, and the 1950s as they try to solve a mystery of scientists disappearing throughout time. Machinations Through Time is the next in line of our special Gen Con scenario releases, similar to The Blob That Ate Everything and War of the Outer Gods. Like those two scenarios, Machinations is compatible with epic multiplayer mode, which means players can work together with other teams to solve this chronological caper. This standalone scenario will hit stores in the first quarter of 2022.

The other big announcement for Arkham LCG is a repackaging of the Dunwich Legacy cycle. Similar to the upcoming Edge of the Earth expansions, all of the player cards for the cycle can be found in the Dunwich Legacy Investigator Expansion while all the encounter cards and campaign cards can be found in the Dunwich Legacy Campaign Expansion. These expansions are the first in a wave of repackaged content for Arkham Horror, and they will both release within the first quarter of next year.

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game is Fantasy Flight Games’ longest-running LCG by a wide margin. This game has been around for ten years now, and the size of its loyal fanbase is a testament to how great of a game it is. To that end, we want to introduce this fantastic card game to even more people, and so we designed the Revised Core Set.

This new version of the game’s core set comes packed with enough cards and components to support up to 4 players right out of the gate. There is also some new content in this box—specifically, some new campaign cards, boons, and burdens that have not existed in the game before. But don’t worry, if you already own a core set, you will be able to print off these new cards from our website for free. We’re aiming for an early 2022 release for the Revised Core Set, so stay tuned!

We also plan to rerelease some (but not all) of the game’s cycles in the same fashion as we are for Arkham Horror LCG, with all player cards in a Player Expansion and all other cards in a Campaign Expansion. This is all to help new players get into this fantastic game as easily as possible. Look forward to more information on this initiative in the coming months!

Finally, the last announcement we made for Lord of the Rings LCG was The Dark of Mirkwood, a long-promised scenario pack containing two scenarios: The Oath and The Caves of Nibin-dûm. These scenarios were originally released as part of the Limited Collector’s Edition two-player starter set, and now they will finally be available as part of their own standalone scenario pack. This pack will be available in Q1 of 2022.

Marvel Champions: The Card Game

We kicked off the Marvel Champions section with the reveal of the final hero pack of the Mad Titan’s Shadow wave, Vision! As the ultimate android, Vision comes packaged with a pre-built Protection deck ready to play from the moment you open the box. His gameplay revolves around his unique density manipulation mechanic, which makes him a strategic hero with some impressive durability. Stay tuned for an in-depth announcement article for Vision in the near future!

We also teased the next campaign expansion for the game: Sinister Motives. This Spider-Verse-themed box comes with two web-slinging heroes, Ghost Spider and Spider-Man (Miles Morales), as well as a plethora of classic Spider-Man villains, such as Sandman, Venom, and the notorious Sinister Six. The hero packs that follow this expansion will include a couple more web-warriors but also some surprises mixed in. Who else will be joining the forces of good in Marvel Champions? You’ll have to wait to find out!

Twilight Imperium and Android

With the 25^th anniversary for Twilight Imperium around the corner, we have a lot of amazing things in store for fans of the franchise next year. The first of theseare two graphic novel series developed by our friends at CMON.

These stories will expand the universe of Twilight Imperium in exciting and unexpected ways, and they are written and drawn by some of the biggest names in comics, including Ron Marz (Silver Surfer, Witchblade), Andy Lanning (Guardians of the Galaxy, Annihilation), Dan Abnett (Gaunt’s Ghosts, Horus Heresy), and more. Of course, we’re working closely with the folks at CMON to ensure that everything in these stories will perfectly fit within the Twilight Imperium canon.

We’re also working with CMON on a graphic novel series that takes place in the Android universe. This work is being handled by its own all-star cast, with Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing (Joyride, Batman & Robin Eternal) doing the writing and Guilherme Balbi (Spartacus, Superboy) doing the art. All three series (Android and both Twilight Imperium) are being edited by comic book industry veteran David Hedgecock (Transformers, TMNT).

There is a ton of talent involved in these projects and we can’t wait for their completion. Keep an eye out for more information and sneak peeks in the future!

FFG Fan Sites

In a similar vein to the graphic novels above, we also revealed our partnership with Event! Merchandising, who are helping us launch our very own Fantasy Flight Games Official Fan Sites. These online stores will feature all sorts of awesome swag themed around our various IPs, including mugs, pillows, shirts, art prints, and more. The stores will continue to grow after launch, which means even more exciting goodies will be gradually added as time goes on.

The first of our IPs to launch its fan site will be Legend of the Five Rings, followed closely by Arkham Horror and then eventually Twilight Imperium. The launch dates for each site will vary by region; we’ll have more information on the exact details as we get closer to launch.

Star Wars™: Outer Rim

Finally, we capped off our In-Flight Report with a (very brief) teaser on the long-awaited expansion for Star Wars: Outer Rim, titled Unfinished Business. We won’t have any additional information on this product to share for some time, but rest assured, it is coming!

Which part of the In-Flight Report was your favorite? Remember, if you haven’t seen it yet and would like to watch it, you can find it over on our YouTube channel. Be sure to check out our upcoming livestreams for more looks at some of our upcoming titles, and have a fantastic Gen Con!

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Chart the Galaxy

Published 1 January 2021 | Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition

Chart the Galaxy

Introducing a Twilight Imperium Map Design Contest

Congratulations to our Winners!

3 Player—Rex “Wekker” Hearn with “Three’s a Crowd”

4 Player—Matthew Pana with “Chokepoint”

5 Player—Jacob Turner with “Race for Mecatol”

6 Player—Daniel Young with an unnamed map

7 Player—Paul Brown with “Magi’s Madness”

8 Player—Phillip Henning with “Junk Yard Doggo”

Every time you play a game of Twilight Imperium, you start by constructing your own galaxy, filled with strange planetary clusters and unusual species of aliens. Adrift in the dark interstellar void, your civilization will engage in a grand political and military struggle, navigating fleets of warships and exploratory expeditions into the heart of the board that you’ve created.

Though players typically work together to build their galaxy for every new game, you can also construct a custom board on your own—and this is your chance to show off your map-building skills! Today, Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce a Pre-Made Map Contest for Twilight Imperium!

A Galactic Challenge

If you think that you can make a Twilight Imperium map that’s more inventive, more unusual, and most importantly, more fun to play than any other map, you’ll have the opportunity to share your creation with designer Dane Beltrami and, if selected as a winner, with the entire Twilight Imperium community in Volume 2 of the Imperial Codex.

The rules of the contest are simple:

1. Choose a player count—3 Players, 4 Players, 5 Players, 6 Players, 7 Players, or 8 Players. There will be one winner for each player count, and the six winning pre-made maps will be featured in Volume 2 of the Imperial Codex.

Each person can submit a map for only one player count. Submissions beyond your first will not be considered.

2. Build your map, following these specifications:

The map can use any red- or blue-backed system tiles from Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition or the Prophecy of Kings expansion.
The nine hyperlane tiles can be used.
A single system tile cannot be used twice, including hyperlanes—only one copy of each product can be used.
The map must be playable by any factions—home systems cannot be used in the map design.
The map should adhere to the provided shape, and must include Mecatol Rex as well as an appropriate number of player home systems, but can vary in where Mecatol Rex and those home systems are placed. Hyperlanes may also be used to achieve nonstandard adjacency and resource scarcity.

Every system tile features an identifying number, which must be used when filling out your map template.

3. Fill out the provided template with the numbers located in the leftmost corner of each system tile. Leave a field blank to indicate a player home system—otherwise, all fields must be filled. Click the links to download the 3 Player Template (2 MB), the 4-6 Player Template (2 MB), and the 7-8 Player Template (2 MB).

This image shows an example of how to fill out the template for your map design submission!

4. Send your completed template and a picture of your map (phone quality is fine) to imperialcodex@fantasyflightgames.com with the subject line “Map Contest – X”, where X is the player count of your included map. If you want to note anything particular about your map, write a brief explanation in the email.

5. To be considered, all submissions must be sent in by January 31, 2021.

And that’s it! Dane Beltrami will review all submissions and notify the winners via email—the winners may be asked to provide a small amount of additional information about the design of their map for inclusion in the Codex. Follow this link to read the full contest rules (144 KB).

We can’t wait to see the unique and creative maps that the Twilight Imperium community can invent—and we’re beyond excited to share the winners with you with Volume 2 of the Imperial Codex in February. Good luck to all!

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Available Now: November 27

Published 27 November 2020 | Star Wars: X-Wing Second Edition

Available Now: November 27

New Twilight Imperium and Star Wars™: X-Wing Products are Now Available

Take a look at the latest products from Fantasy Flight Games, now available at your local retailer!

Prophecy of Kings

The massive Prophecy of Kings expansion is packed to bursting with new content that you can add to your games of Twilight Imperium. The galaxy has grown far larger, as seven never-before-seen factions enter the game, each boasting their own unique strengths and weaknesses, from the gene-altering powers of the Mahact, to the watchful guard of the Argent Flight, to the mysterious and ancient Empyrean. And new factions aren’t the only way the galaxy grows bigger! Forty new system and hyperlane tiles add new planets and obstacles to the map, and with two new colors of player components included in the box, you can play Twilight Imperium with up to eight players.

But that’s only a fraction of what you’ll find in this expansion! Adding even more flavor to your chosen species, a wealth of unique leader cards arrive to support every faction in the game, giving you powers to unlock during the game. Lumbering mechs stomp onto the battlefield as powerful new ground forces with unique special abilities for every faction. As you venture into the unknown regions of space, brand-new exploration decks seed new planets and the void of space with new discoveries, including fragments you can combine to create awe-inspiring relics. With new action cards, agenda cards, objectives, technologies, promissory notes, legendary planets, and more, Prophecy of Kings is a must-have expansion for any fan of Twilight Imperium!

Pick up your own copy of Prophecy of Kings (TI10) at your local retailer or online through our website here!

Eta-2 Actis Expansion Pack

As the Clone Wars takes its toll on the ranks of the Jedi Order, those that remain must assume even greater responsibilities in the Grand Army of the Republic. The Eta-2 Actis-class Interceptor, developed by Kuat Systems Engineering, is stripped down so that battle hardened Jedi pilots can get the most out of its agile frame.

This expansion puts one of these agile ships as well as a Syliure-class Hyperspace Ring in your hands. Featuring intuitive controls and blazing speed, this ship is the perfect way for its Jedi pilots to use their unique abilities in the midst of space combat. Six ship cards allow you to choose from some of the galaxy's most notable Jedi Knights to fly it into battle.

Meanwhile, six upgrade cards invite you to customize the ship with a new astromech, additional Force abilities and more. Finally, the hyperspace ring completely changes how the ship is placed and can also be used with your Delta-7 Aethersprite and Nimbus-class V-wing starfighters!

Pick up your own copy of the Eta-2 Actis Expansion Pack (SWZ79) at your local retailer or online through our website here!

Nimbus-class V-Wing Expansion Pack

The Kuat Systems Engineering Alpha-3 Nimbus-class V-wing is the vessel of choice for the Galactic Republic’s clone and non-clone starfighter pilots alike. This nimble craft is fielded in various configurations for specialized tasks. The techniques pioneered to mass-produce its precision ion engines will later be crucial in the development of the TIE series by Sienar Fleet Systems.

Sporting impressive speed, the V-wing is ideally suited for many missions critical to the future of the Republic, including protecting Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's personal shuttle. The Nimbus-class V-Wing Expansion Pack contains everything you need to incorporate one of these versatile starfighers into your Galactic Republic squadrons, including a beautifully pre-painted miniature and six ship cards that allow you to hand pick your pilot from elite clones and aspiring Republic officers like Wilhuff Tarkin. Meanwhile, seven upgrade cards give you the freedom to customize your ship with new astromechs, two different configurations that completely reshape how the ship plays, and more!

Pick up your own copy of the Nimbus-class V-Wing Expansion Pack (SWZ80) at your local retailer or online through our website here!

Droid Tri-Fighter Expansion Pack

Designed by the Colicoid Creation Nest and manufactured by Phlac-Arphocc Automata Industries, the heuristic processers of Droid Tri-Fighters allow these deadly ships to analyze and adapt to enemy tactics in-flight. Deployed late in the Clone Wars, these aggressive starfighters, and the destructive buzz droids they carry, pose a serious threat to even veteran Jedi pilots.

Droid Tri-Fighters represent the next step in Separatist starfighter strategy and within this expansion you'll find everything you need to add one of these aggressive droids to your Separatist squadrons, beginning with a beautifully detailed, pre-painted Droid Tri-Fighter miniature.

This miniature is accompanied by six ship cards inviting you to choose a specific set of programming for it. Your droid can be further customized with seven upgrade cards that give you the freedom to reprogram it to be more independent in battle, outfit it with an intercept booster that rockets it into the fray, and more!

Pick up your own copy of the Droid Tri-Fighter Expansion Pack (SWZ81) at your local retailer or online through our website here!

Jango Fett's Slave I Expansion Pack

A bounty hunter is only as good as their ship. Originally produced for law enforcement purposes by Kuat Systems Engineering, the Firespray-class patrol craft is also a favorite of bounty hunters like Jango Fett, who use its robust chassis to add their own weaponry and modifications. Fett's reputation as one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy is partially thanks to the fearsome Slave I, which he uses to hunt his marks and, if they won't come quietly, bring them down on the spot.

This expansion pack invites you to put your personal touch on your own Firespray-class patrol craft painted in the colors of Jango Fett's Slave I. In addition to the miniature, you'll also find four ship cards in this expansion, including the infamous Jango Fett himself. These bounty hunters, mercenaries, and rogues are accompanied by 13 upgrade cards that let you customize your ship to fit your strategy, including several that can be used in both Separatist and Scum squadrons.

Pick up your own copy of the Jango Fett's Slave I Expansion Pack (SWZ82) at your local retailer or online through our website here!

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FFG Live in October

Published 30 September 2020 | Arkham Horror: The Card Game

FFG Live in October

Tune In for Hot New Announcements and Previews

Fall is fast approaching, and we have plenty of livestreams planned for the month of October—including three streams centered on SPIEL.digital, the online replacement for Germany’s annual Essen SPIEL convention. We always stream live on our Twitch channel, and even if you miss the live show, our videos are archived afterwards on our YouTube channel. To find out what we have planned for October, read on!

First up, you can join us on October 8 at 6:00 PM Central Time to watch us play The Lord of the Rings: The Board Game Anniversary Edition! Created by renowned game designer Reiner Knizia in 2000, The Lord of the Rings: The Board Game lets you experience the Fellowship’s flight through the Mines of Moria, the desperate defense of Helm’s Deep, and the Ring-bearer’s long march across the desolate wastes of Mordor. This classic game has been out of print for years, but with the anniversary edition, you have the chance to add this game to your own collection.

The following week, on October 15 at 6:00 PM Central Time, come sit down with designers Matt Newman and Jeremy Zwirn to watch us play through the first scenario of the newly released The Innsmouth Conspiracy deluxe expansion. Whether you’re wondering what to expect from this new campaign, have questions for the designers about the new cycle, or just want to hang out and talk Arkham Horror: The Card Game, this is the perfect stream for you.

Finally, we’ll be launching into our streams accompanying the SPIEL.digital show—streaming on our Twitch channel at 10:00 AM Central Time each day on October 22–24! Although we can’t gather in person, we still have plenty of exciting things to show off, featuring some of our hottest upcoming games.

We kick things off on October 22 at 10:00 AM with a brand-new product announcement—and you probably couldn’t guess what this might be… You won’t want to miss this announcement as we sit down with the developers to go deep on this new product line!

On October 23 at 10:00 AM, we’ll be sitting down with Dane Beltrami to reveal even more of Prophecy of Kings and answer your questions about this brand-new expansion for Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition. This massive new expansion is absolutely packed with new content for your games, and we’ve only scratched the surface in our previous unboxing. Come prepared with your own questions for Dane!

Lastly, we’re wrapping our SPIEL.digital streams on October 24 with some gameplay of the upcoming X-Men: Mutant Insurrection. In this stream, we’ll be showing off the multiplayer aspect of the game, playing with designer Brandon Perdue, producer Molly Glover, and art director Deborah Garcia. You won’t want to miss the X-men leaping into battle!

There’s so much to look forward to throughout October, and we can’t wait to share it with you. Join us live on Twitch or watch the videos afterwards on our YouTube channel, but wherever you watch, don’t forget to subscribe!

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Prophecy of Kings

Published 2 August 2020 | Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition

Prophecy of Kings

Announcing a New Expansion for Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition

The lost planet of Ixth, fabled paradise of a million dreamers, promised land of a thousand faiths, a legend as old as the Lazax, has been found. Unfortunately, the old tales of Ixth are nothing more than lies, and when an exploratory expedition ventures through a sealed wormhole in Creuss space, they discover a tomb-city outside the galaxy. This city is a prison, constructed for one purpose: to imprison the Mahact Gene-Sorcerers, tyrannical kings of the galaxy before the Lazax ever rose to power. And now that they have reawakened, no power can compel the Mahact to stop their burgeoning conquest.

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce Prophecy of Kings, a brand-new expansion for Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition!

This massive expansion is packed to bursting with new content that you can add to your games of Twilight Imperium. The galaxy has grown far larger, as seven never-before-seen factions enter the game, each boasting their own unique strengths and weaknesses, from the gene-altering powers of the Mahact, to the watchful guard of the Argent Flight, to the mysterious and ancient Empyrean. And new factions aren’t the only way the galaxy grows bigger! Forty new system and hyperlane tiles add new planets and obstacles to the map, and with two new colors of player components included in the Prophecy of Kings expansion, you can play Twilight Imperium with up to eight players.

With two new colors of player plastic, you can play Twilight Imperium with up to eight players.

Kings of the Galaxy

With the seven new factions introduced by this expansion, you’ll have twenty-four options to choose from in every game of Twilight Imperium—each boasting their own strategic approach and playstyle, and each bringing new dimensions to the game.

One of these new factions is the legendary Mahact Gene-Sorcerers, a primal tale from ancient history. In the distant past, the Mahact dynasties terrorized the galaxy. They could warp the forms of living beings, compel eternal obedience with a gesture, and turn the biospheres of entire worlds into seething caustic hells. But in the midst of their decadent rule, a new Empire rose to challenge them. The Lazax, a young and fiery race, led the effort to destroy the Mahact and restore peace. But the shadow of the past was never truly destroyed—only locked away and hidden behind a deactivated wormhole gate.

As they return to battle for control of the galaxy, the Mahact are an intimidating foe. They learn and collect the genetic sequence of their enemies during battle, represented by their Edict ability. The first time you defeat another faction in combat with the Mahact, you’ll take one of their command tokens and place it in your fleet pool. This command token increases your fleet limit, but it has other benefits as well. Most notably, claiming another faction’s command token lets you use the ability of that player’s commander—one of the new leader types that we’ll discuss below!

Few alive today know of the Argent Flight. This collection of related avian subspecies were enslaved by the Mahact and forced to fight in brutal proxy wars, until they were freed by the arrival of a Lazax warlord. To pay their debt, they agreed to contribute their best warriors and scholars to create an order that would safeguard the galaxy and ensure the Mahact would never return. Though they fought their own battles in the shadows against the Mahact’s sleeper agents, with the opening of the wormhole gate and the return of the Mahact, the Argent Flight has begun to gather its forces. The time for secrecy is over, and they must finish what the Lazax started so long ago.

The Argent Flight know their role in galactic politics, and their zeal can give them a real edge in shaping the new laws and directives of the galactic council. You’ll always vote first during the agenda phase, but whenever you cast at least one vote, you automatically cast an additional vote for each player in the game, including yourself, making the Argent Flight a political power to be reckoned with. This faction also boast specialized destroyers—Strike Wing Alpha—with anti-fighter barrages that can also be used to damage your opponent’s most powerful starships.

Agents of Change

Even factions from the Core Set find a host of new tricks arriving with the 74 leader cards included in Prophecy of Kings. Every faction now has three types of leaders: an agent, a commander, and a hero. At the beginning of the game, your agent, such as Evelyn DeLouis of the Federation of Sol, or Carth of Golden Sands for the Emirates of Hacan is your only unlocked leader. Agents must be exhausted to use their ability, but they still offer some powerful effects.

Every faction also has access to a commander. These commanders must be unlocked by meeting the requirement on the back of the card, and this requirement varies for every commander. The rewards can be well worth it, however, as you’ll find with Claire Gibson reinforcing Federation infantry, or Ta Zern boosting your unit abilities for the Universities of Jol-Nar. Commander abilities don’t require you to exhaust your leader, and you can use them as often as the opportunity presents itself!

Finally, every faction has access to a powerful hero. You need to score three objectives to unlock your faction’s hero, and once you do, you gain a powerful, once-per-game ability that’s certain to leave its mark on the galaxy! For example, by unlocking Jace X of the 4th Air Legion, you gain the Helio Command Array, which you can use once per game to remove each of your command tokens from the board and return them to your reinforcements. Or, perhaps you’ll impress Adjudicator Ba'al, the Starscourge, unlocking the Nova Seed —an awe-inspiring instrument of destruction that lets you use a war sun to destroy an entire system and all enemy units there, replacing it with the brand-new Muaat supernova tile!

These leaders aren’t the only faction-specific bonus brought about by Prophecy of Kings. Powerful new mechs stomp onto the battlefield, crashing through infantry with ease, and every faction boasts its own unique type of mech. For example, if you fight for the Mahact Gene-Sorcerers, you’ll harness the Starlancer. When an opponent activates a system with your Starlancer, you can spend their token from your fleet pool to immediately end their turn, stopping an attack before it begins. Or, perhaps you’re more drawn to the Icarus Drive —this Ghosts of Creuss mech lets you remove it from the board to place or move a Creuss wormhole in its system, giving you unparalleled tactical flexibility.

As shown above, you’ll find a home for your leader cards and mech card on the brand-new leader sheets that slot seamlessly under your faction sheet—all while boasting a useful quick reference that you can slide out whenever you need to consult it!

Relics of the Unknown

As you venture into the unknown depths of the galaxy, you’ll find forty brand-new planets waiting for you—and for the first time in Prophecy of Kings, you’ll have the experience of setting foot on a new world for the first time. Four exploration decks are included in this expansion—a deck for cultural, hazardous, and industrial planets, as well as a frontier exploration deck for factions who have researched the necessary tech to explore the void of space.

If you’re the first player to take control of a planet, you have the chance to explore that planet, drawing a card from the appropriate exploration deck. You may find a Paradise World, a card that attaches to the planet card and permanently increases its influence for whoever controls it. Or perhaps you’ve found a Volatile Fuel Source, allowing you to use your ground forces to gain another command token. Perhaps most powerful of all, however, you may find a fragment of a relic, such as the Industrial Relic Fragment.

Ancient and incredible relics from time immemorial can be found across the galaxy, but you can’t recover these lost powers unless you piece together the fragments, either through exploration or by exchanging them as part of a transaction. When you have three relic fragments, you can turn them in to draw the top card of the relic deck! You may use your fragments to piece together the Scepter of Emelpar, which lets you spend a token from your reinforcements rather than from your strategy pool—but even more unusual and esoteric relics may lie scattered among the stars.

A New Era of Glorious War

With the Prophecy of Kings expansion, Twilight Imperium enters a new era. New factions enter the struggle, new system tiles expand your galaxy, and you can play with seven or eight players. Leader cards and unique mechs arrive for every faction, exploration decks capture the experience of venturing into the unknown, and relics can give you an edge if you’re able to piece them together. And we haven’t even shown off the brand-new planet cards, action cards, agendas, objectives, promissory notes, technologies, legendary planets, and more!

You can watch us unbox the Prophecy of Kings expansion (TI10) on July 31 at 3:00 PM Central Time, and pre-order this expansion at your local retailer or online through our website today! Look for Prophecy of Kings to release in the fourth quarter of 2020.

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14 Years

Published 26 July 2019 | Star Wars: Outer Rim

14 Years

A Retrospective Journal from Corey Konieczka

I started working at FFG on July 1, 2005. Before then, I had designed games as a fun hobby, so being able to do it as a career was (and still is) an unbelievable privilege. At the time, FFG had twenty or so people, and we had no idea that the company (and the hobby games industry) was about to grow in leaps and bounds.

It doesn't seem that long ago until I do math and realize that I’ve been doing this for fourteen years. While I still have much to learn, I have experienced much through my years at FFG, and I thought it might be fun to examine my career through the lens of the games I've worked on.

World of Warcraft: The Board Game – 2005

I started my career at FFG designing bosses and equipment for World of Warcraft: The Board Game. I remember spending an afternoon solo-testing boss fights that went roughly like this: roll a handful of D8s on my desk with a clatter. Record data. Scoop and repeat.

Warrior Knights – 2006

We had the rights to republish Derek Carver's Warrior Knights, and my boss wanted more than just a new coat of paint. Bruno Faiduitti and Pierre Cléquin took a stab at a redesign, and I was asked to take it even further.

When testing the game, I vividly remembered one piece of advice from Christian T. Petersen: "Your game is too short." This really caught me off guard. The game was already three hours long, and I'd been doing everything I could to shorten it. I didn't heed this advice, and when the game was released, the fan feedback was: "The game ends just when it's getting exciting." Luckily, I got to fix this in an expansion, but this greatly shaped how I evaluate feedback from others.

This was also the first time I worked with Andrew Navaro on a project. The gorgeous graphic design and cardbacks were made by the man who would one day become the head of FFG studio!

Twilight Imperium: Shattered Empire – 2006

I'm not going to talk about expansions in this article, but I have to make an exception for this one. The third edition of Twilight Imperium was the game that introduced me to Fantasy Flight Games.

Before working at FFG, my friend Gary and I created a small homebrew expansion for the game. Months later, when I applied to work at FFG, I included a copy of it with my resume. Luckily, they liked my additions, and I was hired. A year later I was given the opportunity to work on a Twilight Imperium expansion, and some of my fan content ended up in it!

While working on Shattered Empire, I vividly remember writing hilarious backstories for the new planets. I soon found out that Twilight Imperium is a serious universe, and I had to start over. In hindsight, this was pretty obvious.

Tide of Iron – 2007

My name probably shouldn't be on the box of this game. I designed a few scenarios and helped out, but I didn't design any of the core mechanics. Fun game though!

StarCraft: The Board Game – 2007

I was introduced to the StarCraft videogame at a LAN party in high school. I was hooked immediately, and I sank way too much time into that game and its awesome map editor.

Needless to say, I was over the moon when I was given the opportunity to design the board game. Christian proposed zooming out the scale of the game to show multiple planets, as well as the idea of using A Game of Thrones: The Board Game-style order tokens (but stacking them). With those mandates I dove into my first "from scratch" game design.

Looking back on it, I still like most of the individual mechanics, but holy cow, is it complicated. A 48-page rulebook? Was I crazy?

World of Warcraft: The Adventure Game – 2007

The goal was to create a simpler World of Warcraft game that could be enjoyed by both casual gamers and hobby gamers. In the end, I learned that trying to appeal to everyone meant that it appealed to no one. Except one guy. And he really liked it.

Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game – 2008

I spent the next six months working on game expansions, and then came the opportunity of a lifetime: we had secured the rights to do a Battlestar Galactica board game.

After my first playtest of the game, I knew that we had something special. Instead of needing to strong arm people into playtesting my game, I had people approaching me to ask when my next playtest was. To top things off, some of these people had never even seen the show!

I think what made the game successful was not in how it recreated the events of the show, but how it made people feel. The game exudes an intoxicating mix of deception and mistrust, which was rare among board games. When you secretly look at your loyalty card and see that you're a Cylon, your heart rate immediately picks up. As much as you want to smile, groan, or shout, you have to pretend that your card is blank. It's exhilarating.

Middle-earth Quest – 2009

I was tasked with creating an asymmetric game that had one player taking on the role of Sauron and the other players embodying heroes of Middle-earth. It was a unique design challenge in that I was really designing two different games: Sauron was playing a strategy game, while the heroes were playing an adventure game. I love a challenge.

My most vivid memory for this game was spending a week at Christian's house rewriting the rulebook in his home office. I learned more about rulebooks in that week that I had in my first four years at FFG.

Space Hulk: Death Angel – 2010

The moment that sticks with me about this game was when the late Harald Bilz (in charge of our partner Heidelberg at the time), played my game and said: "It is good, but not great." He then listed the issues with the main card mechanic and how it did a poor job of capturing the theme. He was right. The original mechanic was shelved and would later find its way into the Gears of War boardgame.

I really appreciated the frank feedback, and I think it was instrumental in making this game a great success.

Runewars – 2010

Back in 1998, FFG made a fantasy take on Twilight Imperium known as Battlemist. I was tasked with making a spiritual successor that lived in our Terrinoth universe (used both in Runebound and Descent: Journeys in the Dark).

While the premise of the game was the same, the mechanics were designed from scratch. This was definitely one of my heavier designs and included everything from huge strategic battles to heroes sent on personal quests. In hindsight, it was probably trying to do too much, but perhaps that was part of the charm?

Mansions of Madness First Edition – 2011

My most vivid memory of this game was a discussion with Tim Uren that went something like this: "If we tell players to not, under any circumstance, go into the freezer, do you think they'll listen?" "Hard to say. Let's make players lose the game if they ignore the warning."

The answer is that when you tell players not to do something, it jumps to the top of their wish list. Many people died because of my curiosity, and I learned a lesson.

Rune Age – 2011

This one has a special place in my heart. It was my attempt to add direct player interaction to a deckbuilding game. While it wasn't a huge hit, it still has some dedicated fans and I'm proud of the game.

Gears of War – 2011

I had dipped my toe in the "co-op" design pool with Death Angel, but this was my first deep dive into a fully cooperative board game. I'm most proud of the AI system I designed to control the Locust enemies, and this design later became an inspiration for AI in apps like Road to Legend for Descent: Journeys in the Dark.

My favorite memory was visiting the Epic Games studio to play my prototype with the Gears of War dev team. It was great to show them my game and meet everyone, including the great Lee Perry, who would later help design a little game called Fortnite.

Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second Edition – 2012

The planned amount of content in this game was staggering, with more hours of scripted playtime than I'd ever been a part of. Luckily, we had a big team (including myself, Adam Sadler, and Daniel Lovat Clark). The plan was to draw on Kevin Wilson's first edition, but to include a campaign from the start. I learned how to split up design tasks among big teams and gained a new appreciation for this style of game.

Eldritch Horror – 2013

I was tasked with building a world-spanning Lovecraftian adventure that borrowed heavily from Richard Launius and Kevin Wilson's amazing Arkham Horror Second Edition.

Nikki Valens came in halfway through the design process and asked some hard questions about this game. She was a key proponent in streamlining the mechanics to what it is today. Before that point, there were probably twice as many token types (including money tokens).

Star Wars™: Imperial Assault – 2014

A Star Wars version of Descent: Journeys in the Dark? Sign me up!

The biggest challenge with this game is that we wanted to have two distinct games in the same box: a traditional dungeon-crawling campaign and a two-player head-to-head skirmish mode. I spent most of my time working on the skirmish game, and I got to geek out and design abilities for this little-known character called Darth Vader.

Star Wars™: Rebellion – 2016

Christian was a fan of the old Rebellion video game, and he thought it would be the perfect inspiration for a board game. Although I had only played that game once growing up, I loved the idea of the game.

I focused my design on what I enjoy most about two-player games: bluffing and mindgames. It's a game about outthinking your opponent and living out Star Wars fantasies in a unique way. If you've ever wanted to blow up a planet, this game is for you.

Star Wars™: Destiny – 2016

In my youth, the Decipher Star Wars CCG was one of my favorite games, so to have an opportunity to work on a new Star Wars collectible card game was a dream come true.

Lukas Litzsinger was the lead designer on this, and it was a pleasure to work with him on this one. From the start, we knew that we wanted to use unique printed dice, and that presented a huge challenge. CCGs with dice have a notorious history, so our first goal was to find a way to integrate them in a fun and novel way. I am super proud of the end result, and I think we created a unique CCG that is engaging, fun, and accessible.

Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition – 2017

This project was weird in that I played the role of guide and overseer, while the actual development work was done by the talented Dane Beltrami. I helped identify the best parts of third edition that we wanted to keep, and I also provided ideas to try and improve an already great game system. My favorite contribution was the new trade system and how it provided even more opportunities to form and break alliances.

I could talk for hours about the development of Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition, and if you want a glimpse into this, be sure to check out the wonderful mini-documentary that Shut Up & Sit Down created.

Discover: Lands Unknown – 2018

I first pitched this game idea in 2014 as my homage to exploration and survival video games. It later was combined with Christian and Eric Lang's brilliant idea of creating a board game in which no two copies in the world are the same (the full history of which is cataloged here).

I feel like this game was a little lighter than many people expected, but I'm really proud of how it turned out, and I think it deserves a second look (especially if you haven't seen the fully cooperative rules).

Star Wars™: Outer Rim – 2019

This game is inspired by space exploration videogames from the mid ‘90s, like Wing Commander: Privateer.

My goal was to create a game that wasn't about delivering colored cubes from one space to another, and instead lean into the flavor of the universe. My fondest game memories always revolve around the people and the stories, and I think we've provided all the tools scoundrels need to tell emergent stories in the Star Wars universe.

....................................................................................................................................................................

Looking back on fourteen years makes me realize how malleable memory can be. Did we have the concept meeting for Battlestar Galactica on a plane ride to visit Blizzard? I think so, but I'm not sure. Human memory doesn't work like a computer, it flows and rewrites itself to make sense of the world. Memory is built from impressions, feelings, and snippets of conversation—our mind fills in the gaps, but I'm never quite sure which bridges are fabricated.

I do know one thing for certain though: this long list of games are not my accomplishments; they are the accomplishments of hundreds of people. They only exist because of other designers, producers, artists, graphic designers, editors, licensors, playtesters, and more.

I was born in the right place and in the right century, and I have had the pleasure of working with wonderful people to craft fascinating games. The future beckons, and my journey continues.

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Organize the Galaxy

Published 18 January 2018 | Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition

Organize the Galaxy

The Twilight Imperium Galactic Gamemat Is Available Now

The galaxy sits on the brink of destruction. The collapse of the Lazax Empire has opened up a power vacuum that the seventeen great races are now looking to fill. It will take cunning, power, and knowledge to become the new dominant faction in the galaxy. In your space-faring odyssey, you will need all the tools you can get to gain knowledge of the space around you and ensure your ascension to the throne of Mecatol Rex.

The Twilight Imperium Galactic Gamemat for use with Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition is now available from your local retailer or our website!

Take to the Stars

You can celebrate twenty years of Twilight Imperium with the Twilight Imperium Galactic Gamemat, specially designed for use with the Fourth Edition of the classic board game of galactic domination. This 3' x 3' mat features a slip resistant bottom to keep your galaxy firmly grounded, making this the perfect centerpiece for your games of Twilight Imperium.

The Twilight Imperium Galactic Gamemat features a detailed map layout, providing a guide on where to place your galaxy tiles when setting up a game of Twilight Imperium—no matter how many players you have around the table. These guides not only help you craft your galaxy, but provide a centerpiece that will immerse you in the epic space opera to come. With your unique galaxy surrounded by the starry void of space, you can enter the Twilight Imperium saga like never before.

A Galaxy Brought to Life

Whether you're trading goods with your neighbors as the Emirates of Hacan or wiping out all that stands in your path as the Nekro Virus, the Twilight Imperium Galactic Gamemat brings the galaxy to life like never before!

Prepare for battle and order the Twilight Imperium Galactic Gamemat (uTi09) from your local retailer or from our website!

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Twilight Imperium Galactic Gamemat

Published 22 November 2017 | Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition

Twilight Imperium Galactic Gamemat

Announcing a New Gamemat for Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce the Twilight Imperium Galactic Gamemat for use with Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition is now available for pre-order from your local retailer or our website!

Take to the Stars

Celebrate twenty years of Twilight Imperium with the Twilight Imperium Galactic Gamemat, specially designed for use with the Fourth Edition of the classic board game of galactic domination. This 3' x 3' mat features a slip resistant bottom to keep your galaxy firmly grounded, making this the perfect centerpiece for your games of Twilight Imperium.

A Galaxy Brought to Life

Prepare for battle and pre-order the Twilight Imperium Galactic Gamemat (uTi09) from your local retailer or from our website!

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Enter the New Age

Published 16 November 2017 | Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition

Enter the New Age

Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition Is Available Now

“To lay claim to the throne is a destiny sought by many, yet the shadows of the past serve as a grim warning to those who would follow in their footsteps.”

The destruction of the Lazax Empire has disturbed the fundamental stasis of the galaxy. The great powers have stirred, each envisioning themself as the replacement for the once-ruling faction. Which of these seventeen races will see their vision realized? Who will rise above their peers and make them kneel? Who has the skill it takes to become the new absolute power in the galaxy?

Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition is now available at your local retailer or online through our webstore!

Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition invites you to take part in your own personal space opera of galactic domination with up to five other players. Select one of seventeen factions and prepare for a game of diplomacy, political intrigue, and all-out war as you vie to become the new rulers of the galaxy.

For over twenty years, Twilight Imperium has defined "epic" in board gaming, and the Fourth Edition continues this grand tradition. The game contains over 350 plastic units, 51 system tiles, 561 command and control tokens, 80 action cards, 50 agenda cards, 40 objective cards, 59 planet cards, 184 technology and technology upgrade cards, 41 promissory note cards, and much more.

Prepare for War

In our extensive preview coverage of Twilight Imperium, we began by examining the start of the game and the all-important tactical action. Every game of Twilight Imperium is a new experience, as the players have the opportunity to craft the galaxy around them. Players create a “hand” of hexagonal tiles and build the galaxy outward from the center. You may choose to surround your home system with resource-rich planets ripe for the taking, or place a supernova right in the path of a rival.

Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition is a game of strategy and tactics, and even determining turn order is an important decision that could impact the course of the entire game. Once the board has been set up, you and each of your fellow players select a strategy card that both determines the turn order for the coming round and grants you a special ability. These special abilities range from gaining a significant boost in technology, to becoming a master of trade, to choosing to dominate the political machinations of the galaxy.

Once these roles are selected, players begin their conquest of the galaxy by building fleets and moving them from system to system, claiming new planets and expanding their empire along the way. Should any other faction stand in your way, you can crush them with your combat prowess. But the galaxy of Twilight Imperium is about far more than who has the largest fleet. Players will have to work together in a galactic quorum to pass new laws, benefit from mutual trade agreements, and establish tenuous alliances to see their faction on the throne of Mecatol Rex.

To Victory

All of these actions are in pursuit of victory points earned from various public and secret objectives. At the end of a round, all players check to see if they have accomplished any of the objectives, and they may claim points for one of them before revealing another. As these objectives come into play, they provide a compass for your actions during a game, with conditions that can range from collecting and spending trade goods to successfully winning a space battle.

Most recently, we also took the time to preview several of the unique factions that can be found in the game. Each of the seventeen factions in the game has their own signature play style and abilities, ensuring a unique play experience in every game. You may choose to control the flow of the game with the mercantile Emirates of Hacan or prepare for war with the mighty Dreadnoughts of the L1Z1X Mindnet. Whatever your choice, the galaxy is yours for the taking.

Build Your Empire

With the release of Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition, a new age is dawning—one of war and conflict. The throne of Mecatol Rex sits vacant, waiting for a worthy faction to find their place among the ruins of their enemies and bring order to a galaxy descending into twilight. Who will you lead to victory?

Enter a new age of twilight and purchase Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition (TI07) from your local retailer today!

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